The Pentagon and the national security apparatus are hell-bent on setting an example with Bradley Manning. But we as Americans have a right to know what is being done in our name and with our tax dollars. If the government tries to cover up its malfeasance, then it is the duty of each and every one of us, should the situation arise, to drag the truth, kicking and screaming if necessary, into the light of day.

Walker is more of a fool than even his most consistent critics imagine if he thinks that money, especially money raise in substantial portions from out-of-state interests that see his governorship as an investment in anti-labor, anti-public education and anti-democratic policies, will be sufficient to trump a popular movement that has already attracted the support of half a million Wisconsinites.

Here’s my New Year’s OpEdNews gift, a light jingle for those normally put off by reason in rhyme. I gave up trying to take Newt seriously enough to write prose for, like Kissinger, he’s moving himself beyond satire. But I found a thesis and inspiration from that famous lyric celebrated by heavy drinkers. Feel free to add any rhymes or insights, especially about qualities invisible in the politician at hand: peace and good wi

By robert wolffnow
Neither an ecology nor an economy can survive extreme imbalance and there is no eternal progress, always better. We must scale back our life style in order to balance the scales.

Three months into the Occupy Wall Street movement, protesters took their message uptown in a march that surprised the police and many Christmas shoppers, but helped explain what the economic crisis means to average people.

Thousands of co-ops, worker-owned businesses, land trusts, and municipal enterprises are quietly democratizing the deep substructure of the American economic system. There are more than 4,500 not-for-profit community development corporations that operate affordable housing and other community-building programs in US cities. Another 130 million Americans are members of urban food and housing co-ops, traditional agricultural cooperatives and, importantly, credit unions. Additionally, approximately 1.5 million non-profits provide more than 10% of the nation’s employment. In addition 11,000 other businesses are owned in whole or part by their employees.

In the end, the Pentagon had to be dragged kicking and screaming to handing bases over to the Iraqi government. Across the country, the closing of precious outposts in the sprawling US Empire of Bases has been marked by a quiet closed-door meeting where American and Iraqi military officials signed documents that legally gave the Iraqis control of the bases, exchanged handshakes and barely disguised their mutual contempt.

The other night, the four presidents enshrined on Mt. Rushmore were all suffering from insomnia. Their collective sleeplessness led to a fascinating conversation about the state of American politics. . .

When Verizon announced in December that its newest smartphone — the Samsung Galaxy Nexus — will not carry the Google Wallet app, it spawned a number of these ludicrous “net neutrality” fairy tales. And as always, there is – sadly – a small but gullible percentage of the population eager to lap up these tall tales, regardless of facts or rational analysis.

Voice
Poem written in support of and inspired by OWS and the 99% by an unpublished author Shellie Blevins

In the summer of 2003, I was separated from my wife and the love-of-my-life and contemplating divorce after almost continuous intense and usually drunken arguments.

Anatomy of a NATO War Crime
On June 19, the day before the bombing attack on the Hamedi family at Sorman, NATO was obliged by its own regulations and by the international law of armed conflict to conduct a “potential for collateral damage review” of this mission. There is no evidence that this was ever done.

A Wake Up Call
We must awaken to acknowledge and understand that until the root of the many symptoms we are experiencing (income inequality, special interest run system of government, a dysfunctional political system etc) is addressed nothing will fundamentally change.

Is ICE Running Out of Criminals to Deport?
A few months ago, our immigration authorities were criticized for deporting people for broken tail lights and so forth under a program designed to catch serious criminals. Did things get better? Read On!

I’m Supporting Rocky Anderson for President
Anderson seems to want the same things I want. Essentially, I just want our children and grandchildren to have the future they deserve: a place to live where they have the opportunity to reach their full human potential, where all peoples live in peace and enjoy the full measure of freedom and universal human rights.

California legislated people power. If enough people sign this petition Californians can vote on nuclear experimentation. Please distribute this petition to ban nuclear power in California. Petition hinged on someone figuring out what to do with spent and used fuel.

A four part investigation into the life and work of one of Governor’s friends, Phil Gramm, former congressman and senator. Parts three and four will deal with the career of Phil Gramm’s wife, Wendy Lee Gramm.

Mr Kim, who has led the communist nation since the death of his father in 1994, died on a train while visiting an area outside the capital, the announcement said.

Gingrich: ‘Activist Judges’ Should Be Arrested
Gingrich gives illegal immigrants a break – goes after Federal judges instead. Instead of rounding up illegal immigrants, he would round up “activist” judges, that is, those whose opinion he disagrees with, and ask them to explain themselves, or risk arrest. He wants to weaken the judiciary, he says, in the new land of Gingrich.

I’ve been reluctant to weigh in on the Chinese situation, in part because it’s so hard to know what’s really happening. I hope that I’m being needlessly alarmist here. But it’s impossible not to be worried: China’s story just sounds too much like the crack-ups we’ve already seen elsewhere. And a world economy already suffering from the mess in Europe really, really doesn’t need a new epicenter of crisis.

Top American officials in Afghanistan say the U.S. military intends to maintain a troop presence here beyond a 2014 deadline for Afghan troops to take over. Marine Gen. John Allen, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said, “If you been waiting for us to go, we’re not leaving.”

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak says Tel Aviv and Washington are determined to stop Iran’s nuclear program and do not rule out any option to this end. “Our two countries clearly believe that a nuclear Iran is neither conceivable nor acceptable and we are determined to stop Iran.” He added, “We reiterated the fact that we must not take any option off the table.”

In a “special broadcast” Monday from the North Korean capital, state media said Kim Jong Il died of a heart ailment on a train due to a “great mental and physical strain” on Dec. 17 during a “high intensity field inspection.” It said an autopsy was done on Dec. 18 and “fully confirmed” the diagnosis.

Never one to be accused of timidity, Newt Gingrich is turning up the volume of his ongoing assault on “activist judges” so high that even conservatives say he is going too far. In a half-hour phone call with reporters Saturday, Gingrich said that, as president, he would abolish whole courts to be rid of judges whose decisions he feels are out of step with the country.

Mr. Holder said he believed that a few — the “more extreme segment” — were motivated by animus against Mr. Obama and that he served as a stand-in for him. “This is a way to get at the president because of the way I can be identified with him,” he said, “both due to the nature of our relationship and, you know, the fact that we’re both African-American.”

Top House Republicans rebelled Sunday against a bipartisan, Senate-approved bill extending payroll tax cuts and jobless benefits for two months, reigniting a politically fueled holiday-season clash that had seemed all but doused. “Tea party House Republicans are walking away once again, showing their extremism and clearly demonstrating that they never intended to give the middle class a tax cut,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Montana’s Coal to Gas Conversion Proposal: Can it be up and running quickly?
We discovered this article after reading that Libetarian candidate, Bill Still, supports researching coal-to-gas as a clean energy option. Fischer-Tropsch first developed the technology that converts coal into a relatively clean liquid fuel in the 1920’s. A new interest in developing it is emerging as the world realizes coal is here to stay for a while and the could be a safer way to use it.

Czech playwright and former dissident who led his nation after the collapse of communism After the Soviet invasion that turned the Prague spring of 1968 to long winter, he became a leading dissident, a founder of Charter 77 and Vons (the Czech acronym of Committee for the Defence of the Unjustly Prosecuted), and spent much of his 40s in and out of prison. Finally, he emerged as the effective voice of the crowds that, after 20 years of sullen resentment, at last exploded in Wenceslas Square in the winter of 1989 and, having postered all of freezing Prague with the slogan Havel na Hrad! (Havel to the Castle!), did indeed send him across the river and up the hill to the castle as president of the reborn republic.

France could be stripped of its triple-A credit rating before Christmas, raising new doubts about the survival of the euro. Standard & Poor’s — one of the three top rating agencies — is expected to cut France’s rating within days, in a move that would weaken its ability to raise funds on financial markets.

In Cairo today, security forces clashed with Egyptian protesters for the third straight day after a brutal Army crackdown on demonstrators yesterday, marking an escalation of violence by Egypt’s military rulers. The fighting came in the middle of Egypt’s staggered parliamentary elections. This weekend’s renewed violence, including the documented use of live ammunition against unarmed protesters, undermines the Army’s narrative that Egypt’s democratic transition is on track.

Can you say hypocritical politician? Unbelievable, but this does explain a few things, such as the recent Supreme Court decision. How many people in the DOJ knew about this pending licensing deal for cannabis product development with KannaLife Sciences, Inc., and when did they know it? I have the list of Senators and representatives who within the last week claimed there is no known medical use for marijuana. I specifically asked about cannabis, not marijuana. I this the loophole they plan to crawl through to explain why the Fed is closing down pot clubs?